<p>So I will be a freshman in AEM next year. On these boards, I have read that AEM is a easy major and as a result, simply having a high GPA will not distinguish me when recruiting comes around.</p>
<p>If having a high GPA is only a pre-req, what else will distinguish me? Joining clubs? Double majoring?</p>
<p>I am considering a double major in stat but am afraid this will drag down my GPA as many of the classes are advanced math classes in the engineering school.</p>
<p>networking is your best asset</p>
<p>esp. with relation to the city/region you want to work in (e.g. nyc)</p>
<p>For starters, knowing the terminology could help.</p>
<p>You will major in Applied Economics and Management. </p>
<p>You can receive a “specialization” in one of the 10 sub-categories, which, if anything like minors (albeit ones in your major), will mean close to nothing. </p>
<p>A double major would be in CALS, and I don’t think that would do much to distinguish you (at least in the field of business).</p>
<p>besides networking, any other suggestions?</p>
<p>Major in math, physics, computer science. Or if you don’t like to work, operations research. </p>
<p>What, you expected finance employers to seek out finance majors the most?</p>
<p>Specialize in Finance… you can also do duel specializations in AEM, think accounting, entrepreneurship, International Development. </p>
<p>Get really high marks in finance and accounting courses, take valuation courses. Become a TA if you have time. </p>
<p>The best thing I did was look for meaningful internships every year (even after freshman year). I did research after freshman year, which helped land a job at a local well-known company soph summer, which helped me get interviews during on-campus recruiting for summer after Junior year… A ton of kids wait until junior summer to do something meaningful, and often cannot get a good internship because they waited so long. </p>
<p>Network locally near home if there is a fortune 500 company, or work in private wealth management at a local bank during your first few summers. These are usually less competitive (unless youre from a major metropolitan area)- just email the HR . If you are interested in transactions, I highly suggest corporate development (internal M&A) or business development over general finance positions. If you are interested in Accounting look at some of the Big 4 sophomore programs, or in treasury divisions at companies. This will help lead to consulting/finance interviews Junior year. </p>
<p>Don’t just apply to jobs listed on Cornell’s recruiting website as well, and tap parents and the alumni database. Contacting a former CALS alumni and asking them questions about their job etc may cause them to select your resume later down the road. </p>
<p>Maintain these contacts after you talk to them, and touch base with them year to year. </p>
<p>As for on campus activities, some of my friends did research with AEM professors on stock trends etc. I would look up professor bio’s on the AEM (and even hotel) website, find a few profs who do interesting research related to finance, read a few of their journal articles so that you can sound intelligible and interested, and send the professors and email saying “Hi I am very interested in your research on __<strong><em>, in particular _</em></strong> caught my attention. Could I come by your office hours to discuss this further/ are you in need of any research assistants” </p>
<p>Try to take interest and dedicate yourself to at least one activity that you can talk about… it doesn’t help to just be a member of a billion clubs and not be committed to all of them. While some kids are leaders in many clubs, it really helps if you hold a leadership position in even just one well recognized group. Fraternity presidents, Interfraternity Council positions, Club presidents, Student Assembly Finance Commission, Mutual Investment Club, Delta Sigma Pi or Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternities, Big Brothers/volunteer organizations, Student Agencies (this one is a student run business and the kids who start early often run divisions of consulting groups by the end of their 4 years and do well in interviews), Daily Sun, Student Assembly - all are good things to consider, but do it because you are interested.</p>
<p>So in summary, try to hold a leadership position, get good grades, consider doing internships starting after freshman summer, and at the latest sophomore summer (the junior year internship is very important because it usually leads to a full-time offer), or do research with an AEM or Hotel professor in a relevant field. Note - you do not have to do all of these things.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>^ great advice jcas</p>
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<p>not true. in fact, even if you’re only thinking about business in the wall street sense, lots of double majors could help you. communications might help if you’re going to be doing analytical things for companies like stifel nicolaus, opco, jp morgan, deutschebank, goldman, etc, etc, where you will write up reports on stocks that you follow. furthermore, a double major in ANYTHING is useful if you go into research (on stocks through the aforementioned companies) since you can always use your double major to supplement/start up connections. (ie: bioengineering if you focus on biomedical sector, animal sciences in the animal/veterinary sector, etc) if you want to work in ibanks and just so happen to be working in the “emerging markets” department, you might have a leg up if you double major in int’l agriculture and rural development, since many emerging markets specialize in agricultural products - and microfinancing is a HUGE thing right now. that’s just a few examples.</p>
<p>I didn’t say they wouldn’t help, I said they wouldn’t distinguish you. </p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, it’s not a big deal to most employers when you double major; meaning if two people apply for a job and one has an econ major and the other has an econ/bio double major, it’s not going to be a huge breaking point.</p>
<p>As far as learning the skills that those majors entail, I think that could be formidably done by using a multitude of his electives in not just one but various subjects to compile a broader education.</p>
<p>^ everything is relative. if you’re applying for a job in hospital administration, dealing with the business side of a hospital, and you double majored in econ/bio and someone else is applying with just a bio major… and you have similar grades, i might be going out on a limb here, but i think that the bio/econ major will be favored.</p>
<p>if you want to do emerging markets stuff look into international trade & development concentration in AEM in particular.</p>
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<p>My brother works at CHW (large healthcare company in Los Angeles/Orange County) and does a good amount of hiring in hospital administration himself. He told me he rarely weighs a double major in anything very useful since on average about 80% of what you do you will have to learn on the job. He said he would rather even take a History major that only 10% of what you need to know (that you could get from a few intro econ courses) that seems to be smarter over a Bio/Econ major that knows 30% of what you need to know but isn’t as quick on their feet.</p>
<p>thanks everybody and especially jcas, that’s realy helpful</p>
<p>if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of research did you do summer after your freshman year jcas? Also, it looks like one of the keys is an internsihp after freshman year. I can’t expect leadership positions that early though, can I? </p>
<p>When I am looking for these freshman internships, what is a good way to go about them? Obviously, I probably won’t have enough technical knowledge to do serious banking stuff but how do i convince them I will be more of a help than a hindrance.</p>
<p>Lastly, what kind of firms should I pursue this freshman internship at? Obviously not the big banks but should I aim for boutique banks?</p>
<p>I don’t know if it is “distinguishing” yourself, but joining a business fraternity, being part of an extracurricular activity that involves finance, and taking a leadership role of some sort on campus are things many students do because through these experiences they gain a networks, leadership skills, and things to talk about during interviews. </p>
<p>There are many ways to get leadership experience as a freshman, getting involved in clubs will give you the chance to be a leader in some respects by the end of first semester.</p>